'Orphan Black' Season 2: 17 Characters' Highs/Lows

This one's a real no-brainer (which is, coincidentally, the number of brains left in Leekie's head after Donnie accidentally shot him). We expected more of Leekie—for instance, that he would make it through the whole season. Sometimes evil doctors can't have it all, it seems.
Highlight: Is there a best moment for Leekie? Let's go with Cosima's impression of him.
Lowlight: Well, for Dr. Leekie at least, it was when Donnie shot him. On accident. After he'd already been fired by Rachel (who magnanimously spared his life...for nothing).

Revealed only through video diaries, Jennifer was long dead before the season even began. Still, Maslany's performance was enough to land one of the swim coach's scenes among our 50 favorites, and remind us that, wow, she is a great actor.
Highlight: Jennifer didn't really have anywhere to go for the season, but her video diaries (see episodes 3 and 4) were an amazing showcase for Maslany.
Lowlight: In those video diaries, Jennifer was dying.

Beth's former monitor and the one-time lover of Sarah, Paul's disappeared for the season, though we imagine he'll be back soon—so much hangs on the details of his covered-up mission in Afghanistan.
Highlight: When Rachel recruits as her personal aide Paul in episode 5, saying, ''It's a promotion, Paul. A very handsome one, if you have the starch for it.''
Lowlight: When Rachel seduces him later in that episode. Oh, that's the kind of handsome she meant.

Cosima's lover and sometime ally, Delphine just can't make her mind up. She's employed by Rachel (formerly Leekie), in love with Cosima, but somehow whenever she tries to help, she finds herself played by bigger beasts at Dyad.
Highlight: In episode 8, Delphine tells Cosima she wants to make good on the promise she made when they first met, so they get high and just hang out.
Lowlight: In episode 9, Rachel easily tricks Delphine into getting her to Kira, just by ''accidentally'' leaving open a window on her computer.

The former partner of Beth Childs, a clone who died in the show's pilot, Art seems like a good guy in way over his head. He's keeping up with Sarah and Felix, but right now he's less player and more played.
Highlight: Art's bumbling detective work circa episode 4 saves Helena from the Prolethians' farm.
Lowlight: Art's bumbling detective work circa episode 5 does absolutely nothing to stop Helena from tying him up and leaving. And after he made her a grilled cheese!

Sarah's adoptive mother, Siobhan, has her fair share of secrets. She knows about the clones, she knows about Dyad, she can wield a shotgun. But sadly, we know very little about her.
Highlight: Sarah thinks she's been crossed by her old network, the Birdwatchers, in episode 2, but then Mrs. S comes to her rescue with a shotgun!
Lowlight: When Mrs. S reveals to Paul in episode 6 that she knows about his past in Afghanistan. Sure, it was a power play, but it's made it even harder to understand her character.

A sort of a steampunk-cowboy bent on injecting his sperm into Helena's eggs, Henrik proved a worthy adversary, but not the most revelatory character. Maybe if we knew what he meant when he went on and on about science and God.
Highlight: Henrik lays down the law on the Prolethian farm in episode 3, ''Helena was created by man not in His name, but God shone his light down upon her.'' It's some classic terrifying religious fervor.
Lowlight: After Henrik artificially inseminates Helena (and implants the clone's eggs into his own daughter's womb), Helena returns the favor, asking, ''Do you want horse babies? Or maybe cow babies?''

Appearing for a single episode before disappearing back into the ether, Tony made a splash as a transgender clone. Unfortunately, he didn't add too much to the show's momentum, causing it to stall during his appearance.
Highlight: Tony explains himself to Art upon his arrival. After Art asks, ''You're Tony?'' He retorts, ''No, I'm Harry f---ing Potter.''
Lowlight: Well, not a moment, but the fake facial hair Maslany wore for the part just wasn't enough to convince us of Tony's, well, reality.
Split decision: Tony's kiss with Felix was...just..well...on the one hand, it's a tender moment between two souls looking for connection. On the other hand, with Tony as an honorary ''brother sestra,'' this kiss felt almost like a kind of incest. We aren't given a clear reaction from either character, and the incident hasn't come up again. Maybe that's for the best?

Sarah's willing to do anything to defend Kira, and Rachel will do anything to take her away. Too bad we find the girl in question to be a little eerie, possibly super-powered, and all too willing to give up her teeth and bone marrow.
Highlight: Kira almost telepathically realizes that her dying aunt Cosima needs her stem cells and decides to pull out a tooth all by herself.
Lowlight: Kira undergoes a bone marrow extraction in episode 9. It might save Cosima, but it's almost too painful to watch (especially for mum Sarah).

The man who started it all, Professor Duncan deserves credit for creating the clone club in the first place. Too bad he doesn't seem to be the best at protecting (or connecting with) his creations.
Highlight: Duncan faces off with his daughter Rachel in episode 8, and admits that he designed her (and her sisters) to be infertile. It's a beautiful moment where both parties realize how flawed they are.
Lowlight: Duncan tries to explain the series' backstory when he's introduced in episode 6, but not in enough detail that we know anything, leaving us still unsure whether Rachel or Leekie is the real problem

Oh, Cosima, you had so much potential as a brilliant scientist. Too bad you spent the season suffering from a terrible disease.
Highlight: Cosima takes charge in the Dyad lab's game of Runewars in episode 8, proving yet again that she's the badass-est geek around.
Lowlight: An infinity-way tie between all the times the show ended a potentially character-developing scene with a reminder that Cosima's disease getting worse.

First we thought Donnie was a pushover, then a monitor, and then we realized that he's just an accidental murderer—one that really loves his wife.
Highlight: Donnie finishes off episode 7 by accidentally finishing off Dr. Leekie—a pivot for the character that, somehow, of course, led to a reconciliation with his wife later.
Lowlight: Donnie checks Alison into rehab in episode 4, and threatens to withhold her children from her.

Nobody messes with the proclone. We learned that well in last week's episode, which concluded with her masterful ploy to steal Kira right out from under Sarah. She may be emotionally unstable, but she knows how to play the game.
Highlight: Rachel has her way with Paul in episode 5, while Helena has a sniper scope set on her. And the trigger wasn't pulled.
Lowlight: Rachel steals Kira in episode 9 and delivers to her new home—a terrifyingly sanitized nightmare of a kid's room.

Over the course of two seasons, Sarah's evolved into a bit of an action hero, willing to take the fight to Dyad (or just curl up in an old hubby's cabin). She's not always the most interesting clone, but she's definitely the most willing to take action.
Highlight: Sarah arrives at a Dyad party in episode 1 pretending to be Cosima. It's a cheeky move on her part, but it gets her to a face-off with Rachel.
Lowlight: Every time Sarah kept fleeing the action and returning to her road trip with baby daddy Cal.

When the Ukranian clone recovered from a gunshot to the chest, we worried that Orphan Black was recycling its big bad. Instead, we got a whole new side of Helena, one totally willing to defend her ''babies.''
Highlight: A tie between the moment in episode 9 where Helena goes on a road trip with Sarah in episode and sings along to the lyrics of The Archies' ''Sugar Sugar'' and the scene in episode 4 where Helena and Sarah face off in Rachel's apartment (oh, and Helena's covered in blood, holding a knife, while Sarah's hands are stuck in a zip tie).
Lowlight: Later in episode 9, Helena meets Gracie in the hospital and decides to go back to the Prolethian's farm. C'mon, we'd established that they were evil!

Felix has established himself as the king of one-liners, spinning bon mots off at ease, but we also have to give him credit for being the brother sestra that holds the clone club together.
Highlight: Felix summarizes the season circa episode 4, saying, ''Alison's in recovery. Cosima and Delphine are locked in some kind of transgressive lesbian geek spiral bound to end in tears.''
Lowlight: Rachel dons a Sarah disguise and then stabs Felix with a syringe in episode 9. We know they all look the same, but can't you tell by now?

The tightly wound suburban wife with anger issues remains a consistent favorite, whether she's in a play, in rehab, or helping her husband cover up a dead body.
Highlight: After they finish burying Leekie, Alison gives her husband a breathless confession of love ''I have never been more attracted to you than I am right now.''
Lowlight: Chock-full of drugs, Alison falls offstage on the opening night of her musical, Blood Ties. It's not exactly her fault, but we really wanted to see the rest of the play.